Waiting for LUFA, last paintings before trip

Waiting for the LUFA vegetables after work, I rode out to the ridge line on Benny Hill behind the mega hospital. You can walk up a narrow, tree-lined dirt path to get great views of downtown. Somebody installed a vigilante park bench here, it was painted bright blue and had rust on it, no way it was a city installation. They always put a concrete slab underneath, and the benches are made of more durable material than this. 

Blue bench Benny Hill, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Behind the hospital there is an enormous grassy flats, probably a water reservoir underneath else it would have been developed. It could also be hospital land they are holding on to for a future expansion, who knows. This view looking due north shows the commuter train going by with some housing, and Mount Royal in the background.  

Commuter train grass flats, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Still no vegetable delivery (they text you when it arrives), I caught this view of the commuter train rumbling by, almost head-on from the bike path. I painted it from memory... when it passed, I just memorized the angles and some details. I made the grill look like an angry face. 

Commuter train head on, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

You think Quebec would have learned their lesson after Lac-Mégantic 's disaster when a train derailed, but they continue to build housing next to train tracks. This one is right beside the tracks, which are unseen to the right. As they build the condo, it has a red layer on top where they pour concrete for new levels, then the green insulation and window frames rising up from the bottom. Next they will lay bricks and install windows. 

New condos red and green, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Finally the delivery arrived at Trenholme park. I did one last painting of a poor old tree on its last days. The trunk was split and branches looked sad, that orange spray-paint is the way the city marks trees to be cut down. They plant new ones eventually, these trees are probably from the mid 20th century. 

Tree last days, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Palette Cleansers, going to Winnipeg

With a trip to Winnipeg starting tomorrow, I made some extensive palette cleansing and loaded up the palettes for some location painting. The main reason for the trip is the Canadian Immunology meeting, and as usual I will make a few paintings here and there in Winnipeg. The weather forecast is cold and nasty with wind rain and snow... so pretty much what I'm used to, although it will be considerably nicer back in Montreal. This abstract painting was done as I cleaned the yellow and earth sections of the palette, it ended up looking like a blinged-out totem chimpanzee or something.

Berried in Earth, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2026

This was done with the cool section of my palette and the high chroma area (yellow to red). You can see a paint-out of my normal palette set-up here, its organized into earth colours top left, dark shadow colours top middle, green range top right, high chroma colours bottom left, and a blob of black paint bottom right. 

Leaf Table Sunset, watercolour 9 x 12" watercolour paper, April 2026 

Life is a highway(s)

Tom Cochrane had that big hit in the 90's 'Life is a Highway'. Well, here are a bunch of highways, so, life is several highways! As usual I changed the main sign to have my initials and the year 26. The green on the sign is mostly phthalo green yellow shade (PG36) , while the early spring grass is done with a mix of earth paints raw sienna (PBr7) and yellow ochre (PY43), mixed with the PG36 green. Burnt umber provides some dark areas of earth. I like how the bright green plays off the olive earthy greens. 

Highways signs early Spring, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

From the new Falaise path, one can see the train tracks, highway, and even the giant brown mountain of crud through the landscaping. Each year the landscaping gets thicker and taller, it will soon be a dense forest with full sun and enough rain. Those red lines are a kind of shrub that has bright red branches fanning out from the ground. I mixed the incredible burnt yellow ochre (PR102) from Daniel Smith, with pyrol red (PR254) to get that shade of red. The pine trees are diluted perylene green (PBk31).

Falaise path train and highway, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

In the distance you see the downtown Montreal skyline and the white point from the st Jacques Decarie overpass bridge. Then you have the curving shapes of the Falaise path, left, the train tracks, middle, and the highways on the right. Getting the curves right was key here, and preserving the white contrasts on the highway. 

Falaise path tracks highways, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Mega Hospital, columnar oaks

At the newly renovated corner of Courcelle and Notre Dame in Ville st Henri, there is a large triangle of grass with a monument and a wall mural. Looking west gives this gloomy view of the Mega Hospital up on Glen Hill. Colours and shapes were embellished to give that sense of a pile of Lego bricks. 

Mega Hospital gloom, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Looking east and there are a row of squiggly oaks, they are tall and narrow with 'frizzy' looking branches and a few dry leaves left over from last season. Technically these are called columnar oaks, they are tall and thin like a column. On the right you see the edge of the mural in turquoise, the mural shows an indigenous woman with a sign 'White Supremacy is Killing Me'. Graffiti writers have defaced the lower part of the mural. 

Squiggly oaks horizontal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Here is the same view on the vertical, I tried overlapping the trees on the graffiti and things got a little too busy. I did the horizontal one next, omitting the graffiti and emphasizing the trees more. 

Squiggly oaks vertical, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026  

Sign, three pylons Notre Dame

Its been awhile this location is under massive construction. At least there is a sidewalk going under the highway ramps on the east side now which will make it easier and safer to get through. That remarkable neon-orange colour is made with pyrol orange (PO73) and benzi orange (PO62) mixed just so... it scans a bit more red-orange than I see it on the original painting. I call it "Montreal Orange" because you see so much of it around especially in the summer. Here in Ville st Pierre, they also add magenta flair to the signage, the main sign had a magenta post, and the pylons mostly had magenta bases. The new Mayor called for removal of all orange pylons, I can't wait to see what colours they go with next! 

Sign three pylons Notre Dame, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Colourful trailers, donut drive through

From the canal bike path there are good views of a truck depot parking lot, today there were different colour trailers. In the background is the highway and escarpment wall, which is now covered in graffiti. One lone pylon anchored the composition in the foreground.  

Colourful trailers, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Here is a real Canadian painting, of a Tim Horton's drive through. I put my  initials on the screen, so now you can order some PJD 26 with your maple cream donut and double-double coffee. 

Donut drive through, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

As I painted a cop drove up and went in, no joke. They were out patrolling for speeders or people going through the traffic lights. It was chaotic down here in ville st Pierre, construction was still going heavy on the highways. 

Tim's front cop, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

A few painting near the Lachine Canal

Part of the canal wall was removed and replaced with a wetlands area, consisting of reeds mostly, and a few small trees growing. Birds like to stay here especially the red-winged black birds. Grass was starting to turn green, it was a lime-chartreuse colour made with bismuth yellow (PY184), yellow (PY154), green (PG36) and earth colours. 

Reeds near Canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

This big tree grows in a popular lounge spot near the Lachine canal, it must be near a hundred years old. All of the old iron utility poles were cut down by the city, they left just about 2 meters of each one standing as a memento perhaps. The structures had become unstable. 

Big tree Canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026 

Where the footbridge crosses the canal, there is a roundabout to help bikes merge with the path, and to protect pedestrians. Arrows show you which direction to go. In the background is the canal, with PJD26 written on the wall. 

Roundabout Canal, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2026